As a professor of political science, Orville D. Menard, Ph.D., dedicated 34 years to teaching students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. During his distinguished career, Dr. Menard received many honors and awards, including the Nebraska Council for Social Studies Paul Beck Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Studies Education, a UNO Ralph Wardle Professorship for distinction in teaching and research, the Great Teacher Award, and the Chancellor’s Medal, UNO’s highest honor. His writings include books, articles and writings on French topics and Nebraska history. Other recognitions received by Dr. Menard include selection as a Gilbert Hitchcock Fellow, Fellow for the Center of Great Plains Studies, Fellow of the Society for Values in Higher Education, and a U.S. State Department Senior Faculty Fellow. He was a President of Pi Gamma Mu, the International Honor Society in Social Sciences. Dr. Menard conceived and formulated UNO’s Annual European Studies Conference, the Arts and Sciences Honors Program, and the Interdisciplinary Studies Major. In community service, Dr. Menard has made presentations to more than 150 Omaha groups, and he has served on the Board of Directors of the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association, the Douglas County Historical Society, and the Central High School Alumni Association.
Orville passed away in 2014 at the age of 80.